Custom Home Builders on the Sunshine Coast

A large proportion of Sunshine Coast hinterland and bushland-fringe land sits within a bushfire hazard overlay under the Sunshine Coast planning scheme. Where it applies, the site is assessed for a Bushfire Attack Level under AS 3959.

The BAL rating drives construction requirements for glazing, decks, screens, eaves, subfloor enclosure and external cladding. The difference between a low rating and a high one is a substantial cost that cannot be designed away, only planned for.

We establish the BAL before design. A client who knows the rating at the start makes better decisions about siting, vegetation management and budget than one who discovers it at building approval.

Acreage blocks frequently sit outside reticulated water and sewer. That means rainwater tanks sized to the dwelling and the fire requirements, and an on-site wastewater treatment system designed for the soil and the land available. Both need to be designed and approved, not assumed.

Access is the second acreage cost. Long driveways over sloping ground need grading, drainage and a surface that concrete trucks and cranes can actually use. A driveway that works for a car does not necessarily work for a delivery.

Power can be a third. Where the connection point is distant, the cost of extending supply or specifying a standalone system is a genuine budget line, and it is far better established at feasibility than at construction.

The hinterland around Buderim, Maleny, Montville and the ranges delivers the outlooks that draw people to the region, on ground that demands engineered footings, retaining and drainage designed for serious rainfall.

Slope is not only a cost. Used properly it produces the split-level and elevated designs that make these sites worth building on, with living space that opens to the view and service areas tucked into the cut.

Closer to the coast, at Caloundra, Maroochydore, Coolum and Buderim's eastern side, the constraints shift to salt exposure, wind rating and, on low-lying land, flood levels. Coastal proximity means corrosion protection has to be specified properly throughout.

The Sunshine Coast climate is the reason people move there and the thing most new houses ignore. North-facing living, deep eaves, cross-ventilation and shaded western glass produce a house that is comfortable most of the year without mechanical help.

Queensland new homes now meet a raised energy performance standard under the National Construction Code. Reaching it through orientation, shading and insulation costs far less than reaching it through equipment, and it keeps working after the warranty expires.

On acreage in particular, where power may be limited or expensive, passive design is not an aesthetic preference. It is the difference between a house that runs cheaply and one that does not.